Résumé

English

Since the ‘90s, the EU has deployed a comprehensive strategy towards Latin America that gives priority to relations with regional groups. During the same period Brazil’s foreign policy pursued special relations with the EU taking into account Mercosur. Over the last years, the EU has been looking to intensify individual relations with ‘emerging powers’. For its part, Brazil has sought to forge direct and regular relations with the EU outside of the interregional channel. The aim of this article is to understand those strategic shifts that have led the EU and Brazil to develop a strategic partnership, and to make an assessment of the result achieved by the latter.

Sebastian Santander is professor of Political Science and Head of the Center for International Relations Studies (CEFIR) at the Faculty of Law, Political Science and Criminology of the University of Liège. He is also a visiting professor at the College of Europe (Natolin, Warsaw) and an Associate member of both the Institute of European Studies at the Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB)—where he also obtained his PhD— and the Centre d’études sur l’intégration et la mondialisation from the Université du Québec à Montréal.

Miriam Gomes Saraiva is professor at the Department of International Relations at the Rio de Janeiro State University and coordinator of the Graduate Program in International Relations. She is also researcher of the CNPq (Brazilian National Council for Scientific and Technological Research).